All posts by h716a5.icu

Calculations aplenty precede the second Test at Port of Spain

Special Correspondent18-Apr-2002Calculations aplenty precede the second Test at Port of Spain. India won two Tests here in 1971 and 1976, but this time around, the wicket looks different, and there are too many permutations in the Indian dressing room.Problem one: Will Sourav Ganguly come in at number three, or will Rahul Dravid be back there? Dravid once again laid claim to the slot with his match-saving hundred, while Ganguly, playing poorly, has been the target of the experts present here. The captain is yet to decide, but it is likely that he will go back to number five.Problem two: Will the team management continue with Deep Dasgupta at the top of the order? And more importantly, will he keep wicket once again?India have plenty of options here. There is a faction in favour of opening with Sanjay Bangar, but the failure of the Railways cricketer to score runs may count against him. It would be little surprise to see both Dasgupta and Bangar dropped for the second Test. Ajay Ratra and Wasim Jaffer could replace them. The Mumbai man scored four, six, 13 and 23 in his previous two Tests in India as opener, but some of those concerned feel he should get a break as the opening specialist.Problem three: Should India play two spinners and two seamers, or three seamers and a spinner? If India choose to play with only one spinner, they may not take the initiative to tell Anil Kumble to sit out the Test, although his performances abroad are no more than ordinary. If the nature of the wicket forces the team management to play with three seamers in Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra and Tinu Yohannan, the team management may even inform the media that Harbhajan Singh is yet attain Test match fitness.

Tottenham Hotspur are playing with fire amid fresh claims over mooted managerial target Roberto Martinez…

What’s the word?

According to a report from Football Insider, the North London side have held three rounds of talks with the current Belgium national team boss and despite claims from elsewhere that Martinez isn’t on Spurs’ radar, FI report that he is in fact one of three men on their shortlist.

There is also a belief that Spurs are confident in appointing their next manager within the next few days, though it remains to be seen what his involvement in this summer’s European Championships would mean for their chances.

The 47-year-old’s enthusiasm and desire to improve the squad have stood out in the recruitment process but question marks remain over his recruitment record.

Bye-bye Kane?

It’s no secret that Daniel Levy has to get his next appointment absolutely spot-on – there is too much at stake after another season of disappointment.

Much of the Lilywhites fanbase have been protesting against the chairman, as well as the club’s owners, the ENIC Group, in recent weeks and that’s largely down to the culmination of several years of underachievement and a lack of ambition.

Now Spurs have been rocked with the bombshell that leading superstar Harry Kane wants out, which would only add to their woes and set them back even further.

Both Manchester clubs and even Chelsea are just three of the teams eyeing up the £150m-rated striker, and all three would be fantastic destinations for him considering they are all competing in a European final this week.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-managerial-updates-transfer-news-rumours-gossip-and-more-levy-kane-enic” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, managerial gossip, transfer rumours and more!”]

If Levy even wants to stand a chance at keeping him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, then he must appoint a manager who could genuinely get them a step closer to achieving their first silverware since 2008.

Martinez is not that man.

His overall record in the Premier League, across seven seasons with Wigan Athletic and Everton, is nothing short of abysmal. He has won only 30% of his 265 matches in charge – by comparison, Jose Mourinho won 52% of his matches in charge of Spurs, and was still sacked.

Even Christian Gross had a better win rate in charge of the club (33%).

Martinez promised so much at Goodison Park, too, but ultimately he failed to deliver and the Merseyside giants only regressed under his tenure – leading to Jonathan Wilson suggesting to Eurosport that there were “systemic” problems that have no signs of being fixed, whilst others have brandished him “stubborn” and “pathetic.”

Even with Romelu Lukaku as his top goalscorer, the Spaniard failed to guide the side past tenth place in his final two years in charge – not even Kane would be able to carry Spurs to much improvement under him, surely?

It’s no wonder he wants to leave to achieve his dreams as he’s already got the club on his back, contributing towards a whopping 54.4% of all their goals scored in the Premier League during the 2020/21 season.

The appointment of Martinez could well push Kane closer to the exit door in what would be a devastating blow to Spurs, both on and off the pitch. Levy must approach this situation with caution and look to avoid the Belgium boss at all costs.

It’s a catastrophic disaster waiting to happen.

AND in other news, Levy can land Spurs their next Eriksen in £40m “special talent” who’s a “game-changer”…

Leeds United have been boosted in their efforts to sign Huesca defender Javi Galan this summer, with the Spaniard reportedly ‘ready’ to join the Whites.

The Lowdown: Left-back search continues

With Ezgjan Alioski still looking likely to leave Elland Road, Marcelo Bielsa will be in need of a new left-back ahead of next season.

A number of names have been linked with filling that void and Galan’s name has emerged in recent days, following some good performances for Huesca.

[freshpress-quiz id=“355458″]

The Latest: Galan keen on Leeds move

According to Mundo Deportivo [via Sport Witness], the 26-year-old ‘already has his suitcases ready’ and is ‘ready to sign’ for Leeds.

It is also claimed that the situation took a ‘radical turn in recent hours’, suggesting a move for Galan could be close.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-4/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

The Verdict: Exciting potential signing

Although Galan may not exactly be a household name, he looks an exciting left-back, averaging an incredible 3.3 dribbles per game in La Liga last season – that’s far more than any Leeds player in Premier League action and second only to Lionel Messi in Spain.

That highlights what an attack-minded full-back he is, which given Bielsa’s forward-thinking style, could be exactly what Leeds are looking for in an Alioski replacement.

An impressive average of 2.4 tackles per match also shows that Galan can defend, however, suggesting he is a complete package down the left flank.

In other news, one player has been tipped to come in and replace Pablo Hernandez at Leeds next season. Find out who it is here.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tuesday hit back at criticizm over the appointment of Dr Aamer Siddique, the human resource consultant, who will be travelling to Australia as ‘thought leader’

29-May-2002The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tuesday hit back at criticizm over the appointment of Dr Aamer Siddique, the human resource consultant, who will be travelling to Australia as ‘thought leader’.The chairman of the board Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, also told PCB’s website, that the cost being quoted in a section of press on Siddique’s tour was not Rs one million.”One problem in our environment is that the moment you digress from the trodden path, and try new ideas, instead of getting marks for taking new initiatives, you get uncalled for criticism,” Tauqir was quoted as saying on cricinfo.com.Instead of the cost involved, the point to note here should have been the merit of the concept and the suitability of the person engaged.We would like to focus on the benefits rather than the cost. And we feel that any expenditure on the development and self-enrichment of the human resource representing Pakistan at this critical juncture is money well spent.While we do not want to be drawn into an unnecessary controversy, the fact of the matter is that for one we have observed that Dr Aamer’s contribution in the team’s recent resurgence was of some consequence.”Secondly, the sum involved has been wrongly quoted as one million rupees. The actual cost is much less. And, let me repeat that the benefit of having a human resource specialist available to the boys by far outweighs the cost,” the PCB chairman said.

Manchester United must avoid a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves this summer.

What’s the story?

According to The Sun, Wolves would be willing to listen to offers worth £35 million for the Portugal international, with Arsenal also keen to secure his signature.

Several big sides including Manchester United and Liverpool are believed to be have been monitoring Neves in recent years after some decent performances throughout his time on English shores.

He’s not good enough

With Nuno Espirito Santo departing Molineux after four successful years, the Midlands outfit are set for a summer of rebuilding.

Due to the financial impact of the ongoing pandemic, it’s believed Wolves’ owners are looking to offload at least one of their star players over the upcoming transfer window in order to fund a squad overhaul.

Neves was a pivotal part of the club’s success under Espirito Santo, scoring 20 goals and providing 10 assists in 176 appearances as they won the Championship, recorded consecutive seventh-place Premier League finishes, and reached the FA Cup semi-finals together.

However, whether he has the ability to make the step up and play for a side with ambitions of winning football’s top prizes is up for debate.

At just 18, Neves became the youngest player to ever captain a Champions League game when he led out Porto against Maccabi Tel Aviv, but he arguably hasn’t progressed as far as some expected.

He’s prone to the odd shocking performance, as The Athletic’s Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers highlights last season.

“He was absolutely shocking! Completely overrun, kept giving the ball away. Awful. He’s been out-jumped a few times in set-pieces recently, he’s often marking players a few inches higher than him,” wrote Spiers after a defeat against West Bromwich Albion.

But it’s also Neves’ overall game that lacks that star quality needed at a club like Manchester United.

He recorded a pass accuracy of just 84.3% in 2020/21, lower than Scott McTominay’s 87.3% and Fred’s 88.2%. The former Porto man also lagged behind the United duo in terms of interceptions, managing only 1.55 per 90 compared to Fred’s 1.77 and McTominay’s 2.15.

Although Neves bettered McTominay in terms of tackles, winning 3.03 per 90 compared to the Scotland internationals 2.03, Fred once again better them both with 3.31. The same scenario occurred in terms of shot-creating actions per 90, with Fred managing 2.52, Neves 2.09 and McTominay 1.4.

These figures help to show that Neves isn’t better than the options already available to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford, and the Norwegian manager should concentrate his side’s resources on other targets.

And, in other news…Get it done: United could seal their next Carrick in “quality” £56m maestro 

Sri Lanka team manager Chandra Shaffter reacted angrily on Sunday to mediareports that he had been sacked following a disagreement with the chairmanof the selectors

CricInfo16-Jun-2002Sri Lanka team manager Chandra Shaffter reacted angrily on Sunday to mediareports that he had been sacked following a disagreement with the chairmanof the selectors.According to reports, Shaffter, 72, was unceremoniously dumped following acomplaint by Guy de Alwis, the chairman of the selectors, to the Sri Lankancricket board hierarchy that he’d been refused entry to the players’dressing room at the Edgbaston Test.This is vigorously denied by Shaffter: "It’s totally false. Guy de Alwisnever requested entry to the dressing room. Had he done so then I wouldnaturally have provided permission, as I did to the chairman of the interimcommittee, who was also at the game.""I spoke to Guy de Alwis this morning and he was very apologetic, sayingthat he had never said such a thing, claiming it to be a total fabrication.He will be issuing a rebuttal shortly."Indeed, De Alwis, when contacted at his Colombo home on Sunday evening,appeared to be equally infuriated by the allegations, claiming "there was notruth at all in the statements that have been made."Shaffter points out that he was not sacked per se, but had simply been toldthat his contract would not be renewed on Saturday morning by AnuraTennekoon, the chief executive of the Board of Control for Cricket in SriLanka (BCCSL)."I was originally asked to serve until the 2003 World Cup, but I preferred acontract only until the end of the England tour, after which I would look itagain, taking into account my business and family commitments. The BCCSLwould also then have an opportunity to decide whether they wanted me for alonger term," says Shaffter.On Saturday morning: "The BCCSL informed me that they would not renew thecontract and they are perfectly entitled to do that – they haven’t doneanything wrong by me. To claim it was a sacking is inaccurate."Not that he’s been surprised by the negative spin put on the BCCSL’sdecision, which was leaked to the media on Saturday night: "I suppose thatis what my detractors were trying to achieve, making out that I had beensacked when actually my contract had simply not been renewed. It is annoyingbut not surprising – it’s in keeping with past conduct towards me and Irather expected it."Indeed, in October 1999, during his last stint as the team manager, he waseven more bizarrely dismissed: "Two days before we were about to depart forZimbabwe, I was sacked on the grounds that I was a terrorist, working withthe LTTE."Because of the political nature of cricket appointments in Sri Lanka,Shaffter never looked likely to have his contract renewed after wholesaleresignations from the cricket board early on in the England tour.And, sure enough, it wasn’t long before he had his knuckles rapped, BCCSLofficials complaining that he’d acted without proper authority when allowingtwo non-members of the tour party to play against Glamorgan.He also had a frosty relationship with the media, both in Sri Lanka andEngland, over his reluctance to allow the press access to the players – asure way of making enemies.Some of the attacks appeared political, such as criticism in some sectionsof the Sri Lankan media for his decision to fine Chaminda Vaas, for lettinga masseur stay overnight in his hotel room, on the morning of a triangularfinal at Sharjah – a decision, it was argued, that undermined team spiritand contributed to the team’s dire performance.Shaffter is unsure as to the exact reasons for his contract not beingrenewed: "They didn’t provide any reason for their decision, but in fairnessto them I don’t think they have to give me any reasons and I certainly wasn’t going to ask."No official BCCSL release has been issued to the media.He will remain on for the Natwest triangular series before returning to takecharge of his business, Janashakthi Insurance, a leading insurance companyin Sri Lanka.

Rain forced the abandonment of New Zealand women’s first game of their three-match series against Ireland at Clontarf, Dublin today

Lynn McConnell02-Jul-2002Rain forced the abandonment of New Zealand women’s first game of their three-match series against Ireland at Clontarf, Dublin today.New Zealand batted first and scored 249/6 in the 42 overs they had available to them.The teams left the field after 25 overs had been bowled and the match was reduced to a 42-over affair.Rebecca Rolls (88) and Nicola Payne (60) gave the New Zealanders a fine start.Other batsmen were: Emily Drumm (two), Kathryn Ramel (20), Kate Pulford (seven), Sara McGlashan (25), Fiona Fraser (26 not out) and Rachel Pullar (one not out).Ireland batted for 6.1 overs before rain forced the abandonment of the game. At that stage they were 18 for one wicket.The team’s next game is on Wednesday at Malahide in Dublin.

A major update has emerged for Ipswich, one relating to the “influential” Rotherham midfielder Matt Crooks.

What’s the talk?

According to the East Anglian Daily Times, Ipswich are on the verge of submitting an offer for Rotherham midfielder Matt Crooks. Paul Cook has identified Crooks as a player who could strengthen this unit at Portman Road and the Blues are now ready to make their move.

The report claims Crooks, who has one year left on his contract at Rotherham, was previously attracting interest from Championship Nottingham Forest. Chris Hughton’s side have since exited the race for his signature, with Ipswich now preparing to swoop in.

Back in November 2020, Rotherham boss Paul Warne hailed Crooks as being “influential” to the Millers in recent seasons and backed him to fight his way out of bad form, amid links with an exit from the club. He told The Star:

“I don’t know how many of my players are absolutely 100 per cent but I think Crooksy sticks out because he was so influential over the last couple of years.

“If (Mohamed) Salah doesn’t play well for Liverpool everyone notices. With Crooksy, he is getting more like the player we want him to be.“Has the transfer rumour and anything else that has gone on in his life affected him? Maybe. But that is just an excuse. It might not have.“Every player has dips and troughs in his form and they play their way out of it. Crooksy is doing a lot to get out the other side of it.” Fans will be buzzing

Ipswich fans will be buzzing by this news. It shows a sign of intent from the club to push on and progress in the transfer window in order to mount a promotion push next season.

Crooks is one of their rivals’ key players and taking him away from Rotherham could weaken one of their competitors whilst improving their own squad in the process.

The 27-year-old produced six goals and three assists in the Championship for Rotherham last season, with Michael Smith the only player who was able to directly contribute to more goals for Paul Warne’s side.

Smith racked up 10 goals and three assists in the second tier, whilst Freddie Lapado equalled Crooks’ nine involvements with nine Championship goals. This shows that Crooks is one of Rotherham’s most dangerous players at the top end of the pitch and losing him could be a big blow to their squad.

Crooks, who is on £1.9k-per-week at Rotherham, could be an excellent addition to Ipswich’s squad. James Norwood was the only Ipswich player who managed more than six goals in League One last season, which suggests that Crooks’ goalscoring could be a major boost to Cook’s options in attack as he was able to score six in a division higher than the third tier.

Therefore, Ipswich fans will be buzzing to hear that the club are serious about pursuing a deal for the Rotherham star.

AND in other news, Get it done: Ipswich must seal swoop for “exceptional” £6k-p/w ace, Cook would love it…

Celtic icon Frank McAvennie has dropped a scathing verdict on Celtic defender Stephen Welsh after he commented on a potential Kristoffer Ajer departure [Football Insider].

The Lowdown: Celtic face mass change ahead of 2021/22; Ajer could potentially depart

Following a calamitous 2020/21 campaign at Parkhead, the Celts face the prospect of a mass rebuild as they attempt to reclaim the Scottish Premiership title in 2021/22.

Liam Shaw is currently the only summer arrival at Celtic Park before pre-season, however, exit links for star men Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer respectively have never been too far away.

In particular, the Norwegian has been at the forefront of attention in recent weeks after revealing his desire to leave Celtic [BT Sport]. In light of this revelation, Welsh stated that Celtic will “find a way” to replace his qualities should he depart amid interest from Newcastle United and Bayer Leverkusen [Daily Mail].

The Latest: McAvennie drops brutal Stephen Welsh verdict

This has prompted an explosive reaction from McAvennie, who was quick to condemn the youngster’s comments in an interview with Football Insider.

Speaking to the publication, the former West Ham striker stated:

“Some of those players, honestly, just don’t say anything. The boy Welsh saying ‘I prefer playing with Ajer’.

“You’re going to get yourself in trouble for saying things like that. Ajer wants to leave and he will.

“He’s in trouble. Just let him go and look after yourself. He’s only been in the team for five minutes.

“He has a lot more problems than Ajer. He needs to focus on just keeping his place under Postecoglou.” [Football Insider].

The Verdict: Welsh criticism may be viewed as harsh by some members of the Celtic support

Though McAvennie is right in pointing out that the central defender should focus on working his way into new manager Ange Postecoglou’s plans, Welsh will no doubt have to adjust should his positional counterpart leave Glasgow for pastures new, so it’s understandable to see why he’d like Ajer to stay.

Establishing himself in the first-team picture in 2020/21, the 21-year-old made 21 appearances for the Hoops; predominantly as part of a partnership with the Norway international [Transfermarkt].

Moving into 2021/22, the Coatbridge-born stopper will be hoping to build on his solid breakthrough campaign for the Celts.

In other news, Celtic legend Frank McAvennie comments on Peter Lawwell’s transfer involvement.

Sri Lanka completed formalities shortly before the scheduled luncheoninterval on the fourth day, bowling out Bangladesh for 184 to secure theirtenth consecutive victory on home soil; and their first win without theservices of Muttiah Muralitharan

Charlie Austin30-Jul-2002Sri Lanka completed formalities shortly before the scheduled luncheoninterval on the fourth day, bowling out Bangladesh for 184 to secure theirtenth consecutive victory on home soil; and their first win without theservices of Muttiah Muralitharan since the off-spinner started his career in1992.The tourists, led by 17-year-old Mohammad Ashraful, who confirmed hispotential after a lean period since becoming the youngest ever Testcenturion last September, kept the Sri Lankans at bay for the first hourbefore a collapse that saw six wickets fall for 17 runs.The right-handed Ashraful scored 75 from 120 balls, hitting 12 boundaries,adding 68 runs for the fifth wicket with Alok Kapali (23), whose all-roundperformance on his debut Test drew praise afterwards from coach MohsinKamal.But mid-way through the morning off-spinner Thilan Samaraweera dismissedboth players within the space of eight minutes: Kapali was brilliantlycaught by Jehan Mubarak diving to his right at short leg off bat-pad, whilstAshraful was unfortunate to have also adjudged to have been caught at shortleg off pad only – the luck, not for the first time in this game, not goingBangladesh’s way.Left-armer Sujeewa de Silva, replacing Chamila Gamage, who beat the batrepeatedly during his brisk opening five burst, quickly nipped out TapashBashar (3), courtesy of a stunning airborne catch by Upul Chandana in thegully, and then Fahim Muntasir (1) with a curling yorker.Samaraweera wrapped up proceedings, as the close in fielders snapped up twomore catches: Manjural Islam (0) and Talha Jubair (0) both completing apair.Sri Lanka’s celebrations were muted at the end, the captain and coachadmitting that the victory, though a welcome after a series of defeats, wasof little relevance; the most important aspect of the series being theemergence of fast bowler Chamila Gamage and the batting of Michael Vandort,the Man of the Match here after scores of 61 and 140.”The results from England are still fresh in the mind and it was importantto comeback against Bangladesh as strongly as possible,” said coach DavWhatmore. “A lot of people will say that this is what we are expected to doagainst Bangladesh, and we are painfully aware of that, but you have to pickup the pieces somewhere.”Sanath Jayasuriya, back smiling again, said: “We may have won this seriesbut you can’t say that everything is going our way yet. In these conditionswe know we can do it, but we need to prove ourselves outside Sri Lanka andthere is a lot of hard work to be done in all departments of our game.”He admitted that defeat in England had affected morale: “The truth is thatEngland badly affected our confidence – we didn’t perform up to our ownstandards and it was very disappointing for the whole team. Slowly we haveto get back our old confidence.”The captain, originally uncomfortable with the selector’s experimentation inthis series, was especially delighted by Gamage’s bowling: “Chamila (Gamage)has shown his potential in this match – I think he can compete on theinternational stage.””I’m also impressed with the performance of Michael Vandort,” he added. “Hegrabbed his opportunity in this game and showed that he can score runs inthe top order.”For Bangladesh it was a familiar tale, coach Mohsin Kamal admitting that itwas hard to keep the players positive as the defeats stack up. This wastheir 12th loss in 13 Tests and the 11th consecutive innings in which theyhave failed to pass 200.”It is hard to lose continuously as half of cricket is played in thedressing room,” said Kamal, after his first series in charge, “but the guysjust have to be positive when they are there preparing themselves.”But he remained upbeat about the future: “We got some youngsters in the sidefor this match and they showed that they have a lot of talent – they justneed more experience in Test and four-day cricket.”He singled out the bowlers for special praise: “The bowlers did well, especially yesterday when they were under pressure – they bowled beautifully inthe morning, restricting the Sri Lankan batsmen.”I was also really pleased with the performance of Ashraful. He was under alot of pressure to score runs after not getting runs in the side matches andnot playing in the first Test. He has shown his ability.”Bangladesh can, at least, seek some comfort in the fact that they are notalone in finding it difficult to adjust to the demands of Test cricket: SriLanka had to wait 14 matches before their first victory, Zimbabwe took 11games, India 25 and New Zealand a staggering 45 – Bangladesh will surely notwait that long.